Page:On the economy of machinery and manufactures - Babbage - 1846.djvu/254

220 largest towns, sales and purchases on a very extensive scale are made daily in the course of business without any of the parties ever exchanging a written document.

(273.) A breach of confidence of this kind, which might have been attended with very serious embarrassment, occurred in the recent expedition to the mouth of the Niger.

"We brought with us from England," Mr. Lander states, "nearly a hundred thousand needles of various sizes, and amongst them was a great quantity of Whitechapel Sharps warranted superfine, and not to cut in the eye. Thus highly recommended, we imagined that these needles must have been excellent indeed; but what was our surprise, some time ago, when a number of them which we had disposed of were returned to us, with a complaint that they were all eyeless, thus redeeming with a vengeance the pledge of the manufacturer, 'that they would not cut in the eye.' On an examination afterwards, we found the same fault with the remainder of the 'Whitechapel sharps,' so that to save our credit we have been obliged to throw them away."

(274.) The influence of established character in producing confidence operated in a very remarkable manner at the time of the exclusion of British manufactures from the Continent during the last war. One of our largest establishments had been in the habit of doing extensive business with a house in the centre of Germany; but, on the closing of the